The Should's and The Shouldn'ts
by Animgal12345
Summary: In life, there's a lot of should's and shouldn't's. Devon's crush on his friend is definitely one of the shouldn't's. Devon/Blaze romance with a dash of angst


A/N: Here's another power rangers story folks. And of course, can't have any romance without a dash of angst because can't have anything nice without complications! Yay!

Also, before we start, why is there no character tags for this season yet? Its been out for like a year, and still nothing. Don't even get me started on the lack of ninja steel tags, too. Anyway, enjoy!

In life, there's a lot of should's and shouldn't's.

Coral Harbor should be able to sleep more peacefully now that Evox is gone.

Scrozzle shouldn't ever show his face again around the city if he knows what's good for him.

Communication between Devon and his dad should be easier now that he knows Devon is a power ranger.

Ravi and Roxy shouldn't have to still keep their relationship a secret from Commander Shaw.

Workaround the Grid Battleforce building should be a lot easier now that there are no more threats to the city.

Betty and Ben shouldn't have as much cartoony bad luck as they do.

Zoey and Nate should just admit their feelings for each other and stop being such flustered messes around each other, it's driving everyone crazy.

Finally and most importantly of all.

Devon shouldn't have as much of a crush on Blaze as he does.

He doesn't understand how it could have happened. He remembers how months ago, in the beginning, how much he couldn't stand the guy, thinking he's nothing more than a self-absorbed jerk and that his evil avatar was an even bigger self-absorbed jerk, but in black.

At what point did that become attractive?

Perhaps it was the months after the defeat of Evox when Devon got to truly know Blaze and saw how he was more than what he originally thought. That Blaze wasn't just a self-absorbed jerk, but a self-absorbed jerk who would do anything for his friends, even when it put himself in danger. He could actually be nice when he wanted to be. That he could actually be fun to be around.

Maybe that's where he went wrong. He made the mistake of getting to know the guy.

What he did know is that one day, after karate class, when he, Blaze, and the others were all getting drinks, he saw Blaze smiling and laughing at a story Ravi was telling and Devon felt butterflies in his stomach. His first thought was "Blaze looked really handsome when he smiles". His second was "Oh no".

And so, Devon did what every person does when they realize they had a crush on someone, he did everything he could to ignore it.

There was no way he could tell anyone about the crush. If Blaze ever got wind that Devon felt more than just friendship towards him, no doubt he would never want anything to do with him ever again. The very thought of Blaze going back to his cold treatment of Devon sent a cold ache in his heart. He could never let that happen, ever.

It was all too bad, the closeness of the group caused there to be plenty of times where Blaze made contact with Devon, whether one had their arms around the other or their shoulders were just touching. The contact alone was enough for Devon to be happy. While there were times Devon's thoughts wondered what it would be like to kiss the other boy, but Devon knew nothing good would ever come of it. And so, Devon was ready to live his life with his crush, for it to never come to light ever.

Then, Polly came to town.

Polly, short for Apollina, was a friend of Devon's that was a member of one of his gaming groups. Polly had a twin brother named Artemis and parents who decided to change things up when it came to naming their newborn twins. Polly was only a few years older than Devon, so when she came to town on a visit alongside the company she worked for, she fitted in quite nicely with his group of friends. Especially with Blaze.

All it took was for her to begin to tell the story about the one time the clan was fighting against this strong enemy AI and she had to take the lead after the leader of the clan lost connection to his internet and Blaze was completely enamored with her. The whole time she was telling them about how she was trying to keep her spaceship from being blasted to pieces all the while yelling out orders to help the others do the same, Blaze had this smile on his face that both made butterflies flutter around in Devon's stomach and jealousy to squeeze his heart. He hated both it and himself.

Fortunately for him, Polly hated it just as much.

Polly was the sister he never had and so, he had, of course, told her about his crush on his friend and she was his number one supporter through it all. So, when Devon mentioned to her about Blaze's apparent attraction, she immediately made sure to tell Blaze that while she was flatter with his interest in her, she couldn't return the feelings. While Devon had no idea what he had said during that conversation, Polly telling him that Blaze made her promise to tell no one about what was said, he does know that she kept Devon's crush on him a secret as well. So, while Blaze may have continued smile at Polly, the grip of jealousy around Devon's heart had lessened with the knowledge that nothing would ever become of it.

Weeks later, Scrozzle had shown his face again and with him the evil Roxy and Blaze, now in robotic forms. It also became apparent that while Evil Roxy and Blaze were more destructible than their original forms, it would be tougher to get rid of them since no matter how many times the rangers destroyed them. As a result, tensions were once more high as the threat of attacks became a daily worry. No one was spared from the stress of the whole situation.

So, it didn't seem that strange to Devon when he met up with Blaze one day at Riptide Gym, Blaze looked a bit paler than usual with slight dark circles under his eyes. This with along with how more touchy the other boy was acting should have tipped Devon off that something wasn't right, which he would later be realizing after the whole incident, but at the time, Devon honestly couldn't blame him. Having to deal with the fact that there was an evil version of yourself running around and causing trouble was no easy matter. So, Devon quickly suggested they train for a bit to try and are Blaze feel better.

It seemed like a good idea at first. Blaze was obviously really rilled up, if how aggressive he was with all f his punches and kicks were anything to go by. Though caught off by the aggressive movements at first, Devon was quick to keep up with the attacks and parried each one and returning them as well. Finally, after being caught off guard by a combo punch and swipe kick by Blaze, to which Devon had grabbed on the outstretched arm to move the other away using his inertia, the pair found themselves falling onto the mats with Blaze landing on top of Devon.

It felt as though all of the air inside his lungs were sucked out when Devon realized their positioning. Blaze remained onto of Devon, pushing his upper half up with his hands to get a better look at Devon. Both remained frozen in the position, stunned by the closeness of their faces. With such close proximity to the other, Devon couldn't resist looking down at his friend's lips, only inches away from his own. Oh, what a mistake that had been.

Blaze's face twisted as he no doubt realized what Devon had been thinking about, quickly pushing himself away from the other, causing fear to grip Devon's heart as he knew that all of his worst fears were about to come true.

"Blaze," he started to say, but the other cut him off, throwing up his hands to keep him at a distance.

"Don't!" Blaze instructed in a raised voice, a mixture of confusion, anger, and disgust showing on his face. "You-you're- I-I can't believe you! I trusted you and you-. This whole time!" Anger seemed to win out as he began to glare down at him. "Stay away from me!" Devon could only watch as the other turned to grab his things and ran off, leaving the heartbroken boy behind.

The return home was nothing but a blur for him. Tears flooded his eyes as he choked for air, running up to his room and throwing himself on his bed the moment he stepped inside. It was then that he let himself cry, the sadness of the reject and no doubt loss of his friendship washing over his entire being. After what felt like an eternity, he finally felt collected enough to breathe, he turned on his computer to find something to cheer him up. He felt like almost crying again when he saw the little green circle next to Polly's username in the group chat. He wasted no time clicking on it to open up an audio call.

"Devon! How's it going?" Polly's voice greeted him with cheer. Devon wiped at the tear stains on his face before replying.

"He hates me, Polly," he said with a defeated voice.

"Who does?" she asked back, confusion in her voice.

"Blaze does."

"Excuse me? What happened?" concern and protectiveness enter her voice.

"He found out about my crush on him and now he hates me," he said, tears filling his eyes as he thought back to the disgust and anger on Blaze's face when he found out.

"Wha - how - are you sure he hates you? Maybe it just caught him off guard or something?" Polly suggested. Devon just shook his head.

"I'm sure, he was so angry with me. He couldn't get away from me fast enough," Devon answered with bitterness.

"That makes no sense. Are you sure there wasn't any misunderstanding?" Polly tried.

"Certain."

"I'm going to kill him," Polly whispered under her breath. Before either one could say anything else, Devon's communicator beep.

"Hold on a second, Polly," Devon said before mute his mic and grabbed the device. "Hey, what's up?"

"Devon, there's trouble going on downtown near the mall. Ravi, Zoey, Nate, and Steel are already on their way. Be careful," Commander Shaw's voice said over the comm.

"Roger, tell them I'm on my way," he answered back. He quickly turned back to his computer and unmuted the mic. "Sorry, Polly, something came up that I need to help with. We'll talk later, ok?" he apologized.

"It's ok, take care. In the meantime, I have something I need to deal with, too," Polly answered back. "Later." With that, Devon headed off to deal with whatever trouble was now turning this bad day even worse.

He arrived at the scene consisting of Ravi, Zoey, Nate, and Steel in their suits standing off with Robo Blaze and Robo Roxy while Blaze and Roxy, who looked the worse for wear, were on the ground between them. Without hesitating, Devon transformed and joined the others.

"Just what needed to top off this day, you two causing trouble. Was wondering when you would show your faces," Devon announced as he faced the two villains.

"Aw, what's wrong, Red? Did something bad happen without us?" Robo- Roxy sneered. Robo Blaze smirked with an odd look in his eyes.

"Did you get a boo-boo or something? Why don't I kiss it and make it all better," he cooed, causing Robo-Roxy to give him a confused look while making Devon's heart skip a beat. There's no way he could know about what happened. Devon shot a glance behind him at Blaze, who looked both like he wanted to rip his counterpart into pieces. Looking back, Devon shook himself off.

"Sure, come here and you can kiss my fist. You two are going down," Devon shot back. With that, the battle had begun. In the end, the cyber villains were defeated once more. The group helped Blaze and Roxy back to Grid Battleforce where they would get checked over. Commander Shaw stood with the others as they watched.

"We're glad you two are ok," Zoey said with a small smile. Zoey gave her a thankful smile back.

"We are, too," she said. Ravi stood hovering over her shoulder as the doctors scanned her over.

"I don't know how this could have happened. They didn't even mess with our minds this time," Nate muttered. Before Devon could ask what he meant, Ben and Betty came running in with a ringing cell phone.

"Blaze! We found your phone laying in one of the tech rooms. It's been ringing like crazy since the others left!" Betty said as she handed it off to him. Blaze looked down at the phone in confusion before answering it.

"Hel-" he began to say before an angry voice began to yell over the other end, causing him to wince and after shooting a look to the others, he put her on speaker.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Polly's voice yelled from the phone. "How could you do that to him after everything you said to me! I can't believe I trusted you not to lie to me!"

"Polly. Polly!" Blaze tried, cutting her off before she could yell even more. "What are you talking about?"

"Devon told me what happened!" she hissed. Everyone looked at Devon in confusion, silently asking what she had meant. Devon just looked to the ground in shame.

"What happened? What are you talking about?" Blaze replied, looking down at the phone with confusion.

"He told me what you did!" The moment she said it, Blaze shot up from his seat.

"What did I do?" he asked, before looking at Devon with concern. The phone fell away from his face as his focus was now on the other boy. "Devon, what did he do? Did he hurt you?"

"He?" Devon and Polly both asked in unison. Blaze moved his mouth as he struggled to think of what to say or do.

"Polly, I need to call you back. I promise I'll explain everything later," Blaze said to the phone before hanging up. Putting the phone down, he moved to Devon and put his hands on his shoulders. "Devon, what was she talking about, what did Evil Blaze do to you?"

"Evil Blaze? What are you talking about?" Devon frowned.

"Devon, Blaze and Roxy were grabbed by Scrozzle and some Tronics and Robo-Blaze and Robo-Roxy took their place to infiltrate and sabotage us, again," Zoey explained. Devon froze and looked back at Blaze with both fear and hope in his heart.

"Then, what happened over at the Riptide Gym, that wasn't you?" Devon asked slowly. Blaze shook his head. Devon couldn't help himself as he pulled the other into a hug. "I thought you hated me," he whispered. Blaze hugged him back tightly.

"I could never do that, you're my friend," Blaze smiled. Devon smiled back while guilt squeezed at his heart at the word "friend". "What did he do?"

"Nothing," he shook his head. "It's doesn't matter, it was a stupid fight we had." Suddenly, the ground shook as the alarms began to go off. On one of the tv screens in the room, the image of a gigadrone appeared.

"Looks like trouble's rearing its head again," Blaze muttered. He looked back at Devon and patted his shoulder. "Go get them, buddy." With a nod, the rangers ran off.

Devon and Blaze walked in sync as they headed towards the lab that the others were waiting for them at. It was the day after the swap incident and Devon knew something was weird. Ever since they met up over at the Riptide Gym to train, Blaze has been looking nervous the whole day and has repeatedly shot him looks and opened his mouth only to close it again and looking away. Devon couldn't take it any longer.

"Ok, what going on?" he finally said, moving in front of the other to block his path. "You've been acting weird all day."

"I don't know what you are talking, man. I've only been my normal self," Blaze tried to say, though his nervous smile and eyes betrayed him. Devon only crossed his arms and raised one brow. The smile felt as Blaze realized he wasn't fooling him. "Okay. I talked to Polly last night after I went home."

"Okay. What did you two say?" Devon asked slowly. Blaze looked at the ground in guilt.

"I may have tricked her into telling me about what the fight between you and me, Robo-me, was about," Blaze admitted. Devon's eyes widened in shock as his arms dropped to his sides.

"Really? Um, what did she tell you?" Blaze refused to look up at him as his frown deepened.

"That he had found out that you like him, me, and he got angry with you. She told me how heartbroken you were afterward," Blaze answered. He slowly looked up with a fearful look. "I'm so sorry, Devon. I shouldn't have tricked her like that, but I couldn't stand not knowing what happened. The way you looked so relieved when you realized he wasn't me, I just had to know." Devon couldn't help but laugh.

"You're sorry? I'm the one with the crush. If anything, I should be the one sorry!" Devon smiled slightly at the ridiculousness of the situation. Blaze gave him a confused expression.

"What, why? There's nothing wrong with you having a crush on me! Especially seeing as I-!" Blaze quickly covered his mouth before he could finish, an alarmed look on his face.

"I what?" Blaze dropped his hand and opened and closed his mouth a few times before looking around to make sure they were alone. With a sigh, he answered.

"Especially seeing as I have a crush on you, too," he admitted in defeat. Devon was speechless. "You know how Apollina told you, and I know she told you seeing as she mentioned you were the one who pointed out my apparent crush on her, that she and I had a talk a few weeks back?" At the other's nod, he continued. "Well, it wasn't that I had a crush on her, I mean not as big of a crush as you two thought. It was that the reason I kept smiling at her was because of all the stories she had about you being so awesome at games. She wasn't the one I had a crush on, it was you. I made her promise not to tell you."

"You did?" Devon asked. At the other's nod, Devon broke out into a smile. "That's great! I mean, you liking me back!" Devon could help but become speechless once more as he struggled to think properly, only being able to smile wide at the other.

"So you're not mad at me?" Blaze asked unsurely.

"Definitely not mad, quite the opposite!" Blaze began to smile brightly back, the same smile that made the butterflies in Devon's stomach start up again.

"So," Blaze began before looking at the ground and back up again. "Can I kiss you?" Devon's smile fell as a blush began to color his cheeks. Blaze looked alarmed at the change. "Unless you don't want to! I totally get it if you don't want!" he stammered.

"No!" Devon's hands flew up, grabbing other's wrists. Blaze looked down at the joined hands before up at him again. "I would actually really like it if you did," Devon admitted with a smile. Blaze gave him a smile back before slowly leaning forward. Devon couldn't resist closing his eyes he leaned forward as well as to the other. It was like fireworks when their lips touched. The butterflies in Devon's stomach went crazy. Even though there was anything more than just the brushing of lips, it was everything Devon could have hoped for and more. After a moment, the two parted and both opened their eyes, Blaze having closed his at some point. While Devon gave him a smile, Blaze had started to smile as well before he saw something behind him that made the smile drop.

"Well then," Commander Shaw's voice said from behind him, causing Devon's smile to drop as well as he let go of Blaze's arms and turned to face her. In the doorway of the lab they had originally been heading to, Commander Shaw stood with her arms crossed and a stern look on her face. Peeking out behind her were all of the others. Roxy was giving Blaze a smug look while Zoey was smiling happily. Ravi and Nate couldn't decide on what expressions to have. And lastly, Betty and Ben just stared in dumbfound surprise at the show of affection. Commander Shaw gave the others a brief look before she turned back to the two. "That certainly explains a thing or two about yesterday." Blaze moved to stand beside Devon, his right hand taking Devon's left one into its hold. The commander's eyes flickered down to the joined hands before looking up at them again. Together, they braced themselves for whatever would come. Expect, the commander's frown broke into a slight smile and nodded. "Congratulations, you two." With that, she turned and returned into the room. They saw watched in amazement at the act, not at all expecting it. Relief flooded Devon's heart as he glanced over to Blaze. Together the two shared a happy look before following behind her.

Looks like everything was going to work out after all.

A/N: Yay! Happy ending! Hopefully they weren't too ooc in this. With how little screentime Blaze has had, I haven't been able to figure out what kind of character he is yet. All Well. Until next time, take care!


End file.
